Local Mother finds Purpose after daughter’s tragic death from Fentanyl and Xylazine

By Jessica Waters

On April 12 of this year,  the Biden Administration officially designated the increasingly-popular combination of fentanyl and xylazine as an “emerging threat” to the country.

For Stephens County’s Julie Russell, that is a fact that hit home in the most tragic way – the death of her 21-year-old daughter, Lauren.

Russell recently sat down with WNEG to tell Lauren’s story – talking for more than an hour about both the good and bad aspects of Lauren’s life.

Russell spoke of Lauren’s intelligence and beauty, her smile and loving nature – and her struggles with the drug addiction that would take her life.

“She was no angel. She absolutely needed help,” Russell  remembers of the sequence of events that led to her daughter’s court-ordered enrollment in the Avita Women’s Treatment and Recovery center in Gainesville.

It was in this state-funded, court-assigned residential addiction treatment center that Lauren was not given the Vivitrol medication to fight the cravings of addiction that was supposed to be part of her treatment, Russell said.

It was in this mandatory drug treatment facility where  Lauren’s drug dealer delivered a fatal cocktail of fentanyl laced with the horse tranquilizer, xylazine, Russell remembers.

And it was in a room in this facility, where Lauren was supposed to be checked on hourly, that Lauren died, alone, from a drug overdose.

Russell said, “They came and told me she was found, passed away, that morning at 8:30 a.m. The thing is, this rehab was required to do hourly checks; that was, in large, not done. The dealer had brought it (drugs) straight into the rehab,” Russell said.

Russell said that, based on her daughter’s drug use history, she probably thought the drug delivered to her that day was heroin, but her autopsy showed the only drugs in her system were fentanyl and xylazine.

There are many layers and details to Lauren’s life story – and the story of her death. Her fight against anxiety that led to pain pills. Friendships forged in mutual addictions that led to  expulsion from high school. The personal accomplishments and kindness from others that led to graduation, and the triumphs and setbacks of a fight against addiction.

Russell tells of the arrest that resulted in her daughter’s involvement in the Mountain Judicial Circuit drug court – an arrest that Russell witnessed, and one that she says should not have happened. She talks of Lauren’s progress in her fight against addiction, and about her relapses.

But more than the details of her daughter’s short life and tragic death, Russell is concerned about the lessons that can be learned from her story, and the improvements that are needed in society’s perception of addicts, and the solutions available for them.

Russell told WNEG, “I don’t want anyone, I don’t care who it is, I don’t care if it’s someone … my worst enemy.. Having that nightmare of being told something that you don’t ever expect to be told. You don’t expect to outlive your children, it’s not a natural process. I never want someone to have to go through that.”

Russell believes that the details of her daughter’s short life and tragic death can bring awareness to the dangers posed by these drugs, and to the improvements that are needed in society’s perception of addiction, and the help available for addicts.

Russell has found purpose in the lessons that can be learned from Laurn’s story, and a checklist of problems that need the community’s awareness:

Awareness of the judges that are sending people to places they don’t even know anything about; awareness of the facilities that are not providing the supervision needed; awareness of deadly drugs like fentanyl, and even more deadly compounds like xylazine, which are immune to overdose-reversing medications like Naloxone; awareness of the shortfalls of mental health treatment options; awareness that these drugs are being funneled into the country by foreign interests in China and Mexico and can be bought openly online and delivered to your doorstep by UPS – and awareness of the lack of national and state action against these drugs — those are the things that Russell hopes to address by telling her daughter’s story.

But beyond that awareness, Russell said she is looking for compassion from a society that seems more interested in judgment.

She said, “Drugs do not discriminate; they don’t care what color you are, what sex you are, what religion, how much money you do or don’t have. My thing is, where, as a public, is our compassion? No one wants to have to live that life.  To me, it’s no different, it’s like a cancer. We as the United States do everything… Relay for Life.. and it’s wonderful, and it’s compassionate, but why do we lack compassion when it comes to the disease of addiction?”

Addiction is not a character flaw, and it is more widespread than society wants to acknowledge, Russell said, adding that Lauren, and every other person struggling with addiction, is important.

Russell said, “Addiction comes in so many ways. You can be addicted to gambling, food, internet, pornography. Anything  you do in excess that fills a need of yours, is an addiction. We’re all addicted to something. Lauren was a beautiful person, and her life mattered, just as much as everyone else’s life matters.”

DEA Safety Alert: April 12, 2023

WASHINGTON – The U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration is warning the American public of a sharp increase in the trafficking of fentanyl mixed with xylazine. Xylazine, also known as “Tranq,” is a powerful sedative that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration has approved for veterinary use.

“Xylazine is making the deadliest drug threat our country has ever faced, fentanyl, even deadlier,” said Administrator Milgram. “DEA has seized xylazine and fentanyl mixtures in 48 of 50 States. The DEA Laboratory System is reporting that in 2022 approximately 23% of fentanyl powder and 7% of fentanyl pills seized by the DEA contained xylazine.”

Xylazine and fentanyl drug mixtures place users at a higher risk of suffering a fatal drug poisoning. Because xylazine is not an opioid, naloxone (Narcan) does not reverse its effects. Still, experts always recommend administering naloxone if someone might be suffering a drug poisoning. People who inject drug mixtures containing xylazine also can develop severe wounds, including necrosis—the rotting of human tissue—that may lead to amputation.

According to the CDC, 107,735 Americans died between August 2021 and August 2022 from drug poisonings, with 66 percent of those deaths involving synthetic opioids like fentanyl. The Sinaloa Cartel and Jalisco Cartel in Mexico, using chemicals largely sourced from China, are primarily responsible for the vast majority of the fentanyl that is being trafficked in communities across the United States.

D.A.R.E. (Drug Abuse Resistance Education) Fact Sheet, Jan. 30, 2023

Increasingly around the country, the animal tranquilizer xylazine — known by street names like “tranq,” “tranq dope” and “zombie drug” — is being used as an additive by drug dealers of illicit fentanyl laced opioids, making its impact even more devastating. Drug dealers are introducing xylazine into their illicit drugs as it is reported to prolong the high associated with opioid misuse/abuse.

Xylazine is a non-opioid sedative, analgesic, and muscle relaxant used in veterinary medicine. Human use of xylazine among people who take drugs has been well documented in Puerto Rico since the early 2000s, where it is known as ‘anestesia de caballo’ (horse anesthetic). In the United States, xylazine is not a scheduled medication, and although it is approved for use in large animal veterinary medicine, the FDA has not approved it for human use.

In humans, xylazine may cause hypotension, central nervous system depression, respiratory depression, and bradycardia.  Xylazine causes wounds that erupt with a scaly dead tissue called eschar; untreated, they can lead to amputation. It induces a blackout stupor for hours, rendering users vulnerable to rape and robbery. When people come to, the high from the fentanyl has long since faded and they immediately crave more. Because xylazine is a sedative and not an opioid, it resists standard opioid overdose reversal treatments.

Xylazine, a non-opioid veterinary tranquilizer not approved for human use, has been linked to an increasing number of overdose deaths nationwide in the evolving drug addiction and overdose crisis. Studies show people exposed to xylazine often knowingly or unknowingly used it in combination with other drugs, particularly illicit fentanyl.

While the full national scope of overdose deaths involving xylazine is unknown, research shows overdose deaths linked to xylazine have spread westward across the United States, with the largest impact in the Northeast. From 2015 to 2020, the percentage of all drug overdose deaths involving xylazine increased from 2% to 26% in Pennsylvania. Xylazine was involved in 19% of all drug overdose deaths in Maryland in 2021 and 10% in Connecticut in 2020. Research has shown xylazine is often added to illicit opioids, including fentanyl, and people report using xylazine-containing fentanyl to lengthen its euphoric effects. Most overdose deaths linked to both xylazine and fentanyl also involved additional substances, including cocaine, heroin, benzodiazepines, alcohol, gabapentin, methadone, and prescription opioids.

Also known as “tranq,” xylazine is a central nervous system depressant that can cause drowsiness and amnesia and slow breathing, heart rate, and blood pressure to dangerously low levels. Taking opioids in combination with xylazine and other central nervous system depressants—like alcohol or benzodiazepines — increases the risk of life-threatening overdose.

In the event of a suspected xylazine overdose, it is recommended to give the opioid overdose reversal medication naloxone because xylazine is frequently combined with opioids. However, because xylazine is not an opioid, naloxone does not address the impact of xylazine on breathing. Because of this, experts are concerned that a growing prevalence of xylazine in the illicit opioid supply may render naloxone less effective for some overdoses. Emergency medical services should always be alerted to a suspected overdose. Learn more about stopping overdose from the CDC.

Repeated xylazine use is also associated with skin ulcers, abscesses, and related complications. People report using xylazine or xylazine-containing drugs by injecting, snorting, swallowing, or inhaling.